Further to your article ‘Land Registry slashes one in five jobs’, published online on 22 October, I am writing to correct one of your points. You said: ‘Offices in Peterborough, Portsmouth, Croydon, Stevenage and Tunbridge Wells will close and other changes will affect staff in Plymouth and London ahead of the organisation’s planned privatisation’. I would like to point out that our announcement made no reference to the privatisation of Land Registry.

The Operational Efficiency Programme report, published in April 2009, stated that the responsibility for the creation, recording and guaranteeing of title to land should remain within government. A further statement is expected in this year’s pre-budget report.

Peter Collis, Chief land registrar and chief executive, Land Registry